#1969 The Degenerates

[tina-aumont]

Tina Aumont as Circe and Don Backy as Encolpio in Gian Luigi Polidoro's "Satyricon" aka "The Degenerates" (1969)

Ebay

[anamelessfool]

Duomo di Milano, 1969

Domestic Ficlet of Young Terzo. Inspired by and dedicated to my friends @revelisms and @osiris-iii-bc. They post some really detailed HC and immersive posts describing locations. I've really enjoyed their work.

As always, characterization based on my own Scenes from the Void Ghost AU. Excerpt from an upcoming Terzo-centered fic.

TW: Mentions of Suicide

1969

Giuseppe Lombardi, Archbishop of Milan and spiritual caretaker of the historic Duomo di Milano and distant pen-friend of the current Pope Paul IV, was currently using all of his willpower to not vomit in the back of this police car. Before this moment he was rudely disturbed from his sleep by the housekeeper rapping and creaking the door to his apartments open. He was needed immediately, at the Cathedral. Emergency. He opened one eye, his voice blazing. “At this hour? Can this not wait?” “No, no. Polizia.”

And so here he was, his bones rudely jostled like fruit in a cart as the car drove across the cobbles, lights off. It was an emergency, but whatever incident has occured was already for the most part resolved. Everything was grey, unwelcoming as it all scooted past in the window. It was that boring part of night after the last of the degenerates had staggered elsewhere but before the early pink of morning stirred the ancient stone facades. No emergency, no pageantry, nothing. So why ruin a perfectly good brandy nightcap before bed, just to haul him half-dressed out in the cold? He had been suffering from chronic agita for weeks and it has destroyed his sleep. Maybe it was just him getting old. Or maybe it was the blowback continuing from Vatican II, he wasn’t sure. Bishop Lombardi groaned and squeezed his knees as the car stopped in front of the cathedral steps. The officer respectfully opened the door for him, helped him to his feet but the bishop continued to stare with mild irritation at the priceless stones before him. The sculptures lovingly carved generations ago had no charm to them at this hour, only the weight of the responsibility he did not enjoy at such a time and with so much non-ceremony. Right when he was fully rolling about in his own fabricated misery something caught his eye and gave his brain a swift jerk. A white sheet laid across a body on the cobblestones. Two black heeled shoes peeked from underneath, the feet of a woman. He instinctively looked upward at the white tower surging into the sky, imagining the intensity of the breeze from that height. Marveling at a mental image of those heels against the starry blackness. And they managed to stay on? He was ushered into the Cathedral too quickly to think more about it.

The Cathedral swallowed him like a fish and he stood now in the archway of shadowy overhangs of stone, white fishbones of opulent carvings. The man in the overcoat waiting for him there nodded and shook his hand. “Inspector Rossi, your Excellency, apologies for the late night disturbance.” “What is the meaning of this?” The Bishop wanted his voice to echo across the walls like it did every Sunday but the image of the black heels falling past the white marble facade stalled the voice in his throat. “I brought you in to see if you recognize the victim,” explained Rossi. “She’s…she’s wearing a novitiate’s clothing.” “And you didn’t send for Mother Superior?” He huffed back. “Well, your Excellency it is your Cathedral. And I did not think it would be…an appropriate subject for a woman to talk about. Suicide.” “And you think that’s what it was?” “She left a note. And a child here.” The inspector gestured behind him. “He’s speaking with a doctor now.” “A child?” The Bishop’s head reeled, but their conversation was cut short by the approach of a shadowy figure at the entrance. For a breathless moment both men thought the figure would not cross the threshold, but rather stand there waiting to be let in. It was an odd notion to have about another person, but the way he was dressed in near-mockery of holy vestments prodded a primal sense of doom. There was a beat of hesitation and the man continued his slink over the threshold and into the cathedral, stopping right between the Bishop and the Inspector. He was short, slim, with a smart little mustache and glinting eyes. He clasped his hands together, presenting them with a small neat bow. “I am Cardinal Raphael, pleased to make your acquaintance, your Excellency.” Bishop raised an eyebrow. “I am not aware of you….Cardinal…” His words dripped with the acid that continued to roil in his own guts. His gazed dragged down the man’s appearance, observing the oddly formed biretta, the pendant that at this angle was definitely that of an upside-down crucifix. If it was some sort of perverse statement to wear an out-of-season Carnevale costume, the Bishop was deeply offended but too tired to bluster about it.

Raphael stretched a smile across his face which was supposed to give off a feeling of warmth but was entirely too toothy and smug to accomplish the task. “Not to worry, sir, we shan’t be seeing each other ever again after this moment.”

“You were let into a crime scene, now explain why before I eject you,” stated the Inspector, looking altogether bored with the arcane drama happening before his dark-rimmed eyes.

Raphael bowed his head, nearly curtsying. “You‘ve found a child, have you not? He is ours.”

”Oh? Then you are aware of the victim?”

“Yes, rest her soul,” replied Raphael. “A troubled girl. A convert.”

“Convert? She’s dressed as a noviate, what sort of preposterous—“

“Yes, she wrestled with dark thoughts for a long while. But we took care of her, when no one else would.” Raphael continued his crooked smile. “She was ejected from this very church long before her fateful climb tonight, I’m afraid.”

“We? And who is we?” The Bishop snorted.

“Takes all kinds to lift heaven and earth, your Excellency,” he replied smoothly. “There’s a child here, no? Little boy, dark hair, big eyes? Arsenio.”

“Child?! What is the meaning—a novitiate with a child, that’s preposterous—“

“He’s correct, a child is here,” said the Inspector. “And he’s right about the name.”

“Maria—well, that was the name she chose for herself when she was with us— stayed with us. We helped her raise Arsenio. Delightful boy, very artistic.”

“And do you have an idea of why she would take her life?”

“I wish…I wish I had gotten here sooner. Perhaps things would have been…different.” Raphael sighed. “We noticed she was gone, and had taken Arsenio with her. Didn’t think it would come to this, Inspector. But her heart held a paradox, and we did our best to help. Perhaps the guilt was still too much.”

The acid in his gut and the boiling in his brain curled the Bishop’s lip into a disgusted sneer. Ah, yes, Cardinal Raphael. Some pimp from some sort of depraved bordello, a mocking parody of his organization delighting in vices and whoredom. He’d have to find this den of filth and see it burned to the ground. But later. Right now he just wanted to end this dance and go home to bed. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “The child will go to the appropriate orphanage.”

“The child is not an orphan, your Excellency,” prodded Raphael. “He’ll go to his father, of course.”

”Oh and who—! Who exactly is his father then?”

”Our leader.” Raphael continued his toothy smile. “Although, the major difference between us is that we’re more open about our leader having any sort of progeny.”

“This is absolutely obscene,” stormed the Bishop.

“Then let me take a nun’s child off your hands, Your Excellency.” Raphael’s gloved hands tightened, the leather squeaking. His mouth was calm, but within his stare grew a fire of mischief. “I would not want the Church to be involved in…obscenity, surely. I told you that you shall not be seeing us again.”

The Bishop gulped like a fish, then relented. There was already enough controversies that he spent most of his twilight years stamping down. A whore nun with a bastard child from some priest-themed den of secular vice was only going to add more gasoline to the fire and years off his life. All he could do was shrug and throw up his hands. “Fine, take him.”

Inspector Rossi took it from there, ,addressing Raphael. “Sir, well, if he can recognize you then he’s yours. Let me bring him here.”

And so the two men of faith were left alone for a moment.

“You're young for a Cardinal.” Bishop Lombardi gave a little prod at the man beside him. If this degenerate was to slink so casually into his house of God, Lombardi was going to do his best to make him crawl out.

“Am I?” Raphael’s eyes grew wide, and he looked around the space just in case the other man was talking to somebody else. “I'm thirty-eight. Respectable. But I still have my knees.”

“I have never heard of you, and I frequent the Vatican.” He would write immediately to the Holy See after this, of course. He just decided.

“Different social circles, I suppose.”

The bishop’s stomach boiled as he pressed on. “And I was not aware of your elevation. What are your merits, your publications? I have never seen your name in print.”

“I said please and thank you,” Raphael announced. “I ate my vegetables. I brush my teeth three times a day. I did not step on any cracks in the sidewalk.”

“You mock my question, sir,” the Bishop hissed, but the short man barely bat an eye.

“Isn't that what God wants for us?” The Cardinal asked, his grin almost catlike. “To do what we're told?”

Footsteps, and the patter of little shoes echoed on the marble again. It was the Inspector holding the hand of a tiny boy. The boy’s face was white like the carved statues that surrounded them, eyes wide and feline. His jacket was too large for his body, he fought with the knit hat jammed over his head. The socks slid from his bird-like legs and pooled at his ankles. On the front of his jacket was a paper neatly folded and pinned like a schoolmaster’s note for home.

“Born so early, did not think he'd make it,” explained Raphael. “Impatient little fellow.”

The little boy held out his arms wide, oblivious to his surroundings. His little loafers slapped the stone floor as he ran into the Cardinal's arms. “Uncle! Uncle Raphael!”

“Ah, kiddo,” chuckled Raphael. He stooped to his knees and gave the boy a pinch on the nose. “You're out past your bedtime, my little potato. Shall we go home?”

“That was easier than I thought,” said the inspector. “Mystery solved. Barely needed you to come by, Your Excellency!”

“You're going to let this…child…go with this—this— offensive, Satanic mockery?!”

“The boy clearly recognizes him,” replied the Inspector. He chuckled, shaking his head. “Some look…Happy Carnevale, Your Excellency.”

“In September?!”

“Thank you, thank you Inspector, Bishop,” said Raphael while Arsenio continued to bounce on his tippy-toes like a spring lamb. “I'll take him home….perhaps in a day or two we will sit him down…explain it all…” A pained expression lanced across his easy smile, then he recovered. “I'll admit now that I will miss the little lad.”

“His father will be grateful to have him back safely,” said Inspector, but the Bishop noticed a small wince from Raphael at that. Or perhaps it was a shadow. Or indigestion.

But whatever disturbance it was fell away and the mysterious Cardinal grinned again. “That's the plan. If you truly wanted to know.”

Bishop Lombardi snorted. “Not surprised she jumped. And what sort of depraved imbecile would run your….institution?”

“A musician,” Raphael replied simply.

“Terrible,” snorted the Bishop.

“An American.”

“Even worse.”

“See, there’s at least one thing we agree on,” Raphael said with a perfect wink. He smiled down at his young ward and muttered kind things to him as he helped him down the stairs.

And Raphael was then good at his word. He and the boy were never seen again.

Terzo and Raphael show up once more in this Secondo and Rebecca Domestic Fic!

[johnlennonofficial]

* NOT an all inclusive list

[saintmeghanmarkle]

𝑨𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 Harry and Meghan were 𝑵𝑶𝑻 amongst the lineup of celebrity commencement speakers this year by u/SeptiemeSens

🎓𝑨𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, Harry and Meghan were *𝑵𝑶𝑻* amongst the lineup of celebrity commencement speakers this year 🎓 Dear Sinners,Another graduation season has come and gone 🎓 And once again, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were missing from the lineup of notable 2024 commencement speakers. If I remember correctly, the only so-called "graduation speech" Meghan has given was this bizarre unsolicited "graduation speech" she released to the media in 2020 👀Here's a list of some of H&M's "famous friends" who have given commencement speeches over the years. These are individuals who have participated in ARO, Archetypes, and/or 40x40:📌ARO:John Legend (singer, songwriter, producer, EGOT winner) - Loyola Marymount University, 2024. John has given many commencement speeches over the years and is also the recipient of three (3) honorary doctorate degrees as well. His wife and ARO jam recipient, Chrissy Teigen however, has not given any commencement speeches nor received any honorary degreesMindy Kaling (actress & comedian) - Dartmouth University, 2018Tracee Ellis Ross (actress, daughter of Diana Ross) - Spelman College, 2023source 1 // source 2📌Archetypes podcast guests:Mindy Kaling (actress & comedian) - Dartmouth University, 2018Mellody Hobson (President and co-CEO of $14.9B Ariel Investments, Chairwoman of Starbucks Corporation, wife of George Lucas) - University of Southern California, 2015Serena Williams 🏆- Graduating Class of 2020Trevor Noah (S. African comedian) - Princeton University, 2021source)📌 40x40 Participants:Deepak Chopra (author and alternative medicine advocate) - University of Southern California, 2017Hillary Clinton (politician, wife of former US President Bill Clinton) - At age 21, Hillary famous delivered her Wellesley 1969 commencement speech. She returned to her alma mater in 2017 to deliver another commencement speechKatie Couric (journalist) - UMass Medical School, 2017 most recently. Katie has given many commencement speeches over the yearsKerry Washington (actress) - George Washington University, 2013. Kerry also received an honorary Doctorate degreesource 1 // source 2 // source 3📌 Friends:Ellen DeGeneres - Tulane University, 2009Gayle King - University of Maryland, 2023Gloria Steinem - M's bestie "Glo" has given many commencement speeches over the decades. Perhaps her most famous was at Tufts University, 1987Oprah Winfrey - Oprah has given dozens of commencement speeches and has also received numerous honorary degrees over the decades📌 Bonus:Actress Kathryn Hahn - As an interesting comparison to Meghan: Kathryn is an respected and accomplished actress, you may recognize her from Parks & Recreation, WandaVision, and Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse (IMDb). TIL that like Meghan, Kathryn is a Northwestern alumni. This year, Kathryn gave the commencement speech at Northwestern University. Northwestern also gave Kathryn, along with three other accomplished alumni [*not* named Meghan Markle], honorary Doctor of Arts degrees👉 Why hasn't Northwestern invited Meghan Markle to give a commencement speech?👉 Why hasn't Northwestern given Meghan Markle an honorary degree? 📌 Notes:In 2020, H&M signed with the esteemed NY-based Harry Walker Agency. Here is Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex's profile page. (I could not find a profile page for Harry.) This is the same high powered agency that also represents the Clintons, the Obamas, John Legend, and many others for speaking engagements. At the time, it was widely reported that H&M could charge up to $1M per speech!🤑 Where did all of H&M's dream$ of making million$ of dollar$ by giving word $alad $peeche$ go? 🤑 post link: https://ift.tt/PytGmjV author: SeptiemeSens submitted: July 03, 2024 at 02:35PM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit disclaimer: all views + opinions expressed by the author of this post, as well as any comments and reblogs, are solely the author's own; they do not necessarily reflect the views of the administrator of this Tumblr blog. For entertainment only.

[firstaidspray]

Got You Where I Want You Chapter 1 - Closing Time

Read it here!!

Rating: Mature

Media: Talladega Nights

Pairing: Reese Bobby/Nonia Fonzarelli (self insert OC)

Word Count: ~10k

Content Warnings: Alcohol

Playlist for Reese/Nonia!!

Summary: A deadbeat dad loser and a nihilistic, self-loathing gas station employee fall in love...because of a car.

Chapter Summary: After a fun night with a hot older man named Reese and his 1969 Chevrolet Chevelle, Nonia feels like she's finally feeling something other than the usual numbness- happiness and, possibly, love. Naturally, this causes an emotional crisis, and Nonia can't get Reese out of her head.

(That's right, I'm finally ready to release this, something I'd been working on and off for almost 2 years: Got You Where I Want You, the story of how my self insert OC Nonia and Reese Bobby meet and become your new least favorite degenerate power couple. This first chapter is mostly about Nonia, and doesn't feature anything NSFW or triggering content, but future chapters probably will and be rated explicit.)

[cleverwordsandotherstuffilike]

Medical innovations and scientific advances at Harvard Medical School through the decades (Part 1 of 2)

1799 Smallpox vaccine

1843 Puerperal fever

1846 Anaesthesia

1886 Appendicitis

1890s–1910 Insect-borne disease transmission; scurvy; heat-killed vaccines

1914 Electrocardiograph

1922 Insulin; founding of Joslin Diabetes Center

1923 Heart valve surgery

1925 Three-flanged nail

1927 Iron lung; syphilis test

1929 First polio patient saved

1930s–1940s Overactive thyroid; rickets; osteoporosis

1933 Intracellular fluid and electrolytes

1938 Corrective heart surgery for children

1942 Burn treatment; blood bank; emergency-response plans

1945 Pap smear

1946 Rh disease

1947 Artificial kidney; pediatric remission of acute leukemia

1948 Stenotic mitral heart valves

1949 Vaccine culture technique; cortisone; White classification

1950 Wilms tumour

1951 Brain proteolipids

1952 Kidney transplant

1954 Oral contraceptives

1957 Brain structures

1960 Platelets; proton beam therapy; implantable cardiac pacemaker

1962 Human limb reattachment; heart rhythm restoration

1964 Human blood storage

1965 Pan-retinal coagulation

1968 Telemedicine

1969 Intra-aortic balloon catheter

1970 Human oncogene; positron emission tomography (PET) scan

1973 Non-invasive fetal heart monitoring

1974 Photochemotherapy

1976 Insulin resistance receptors

1977 Virus particle structure

1978 Prenatal DNA sequencing

1979 Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

1980s HIV/AIDS

1981 Artificial skin; premature puberty reversal

1982 Discovery of telomeres

1983 Congenital birthmark treatment; Huntington's disease

1984 Oncomouse; skin replacement; TIMI

1986 Kawasaki disease retrovirus; Alzheimer's disease

1987 Early-onset Alzheimer's gene; Duchenne muscular dystrophy gene

1988 Laser tattoo removal

1989 Tumour blood vessel growth compound

1990s Proteasome-inhibiting cancer therapy

1992 Diphtheria toxin structure; amyloid beta

1993 Neovascular macular degeneration; microRNAs; paralyzed vocal cord surgical method; colon cancer gene; VEGF molecule

1994 PR-39 molecule

[whitepolaris]

Unfair Practice at the Fairview Training Center

Crumbling walls and discarded gurneys. Patient files scattered across dust-laden floors. These are standard sights at many of our nation's abandoned mental hospitals, including Salem's Fairview Training Center, possibly the most sadistic hospital of all.

As one former patient recalls, "My parents took me out to Fairview, and a gateway to hell opened up."

Founded in 1907 as the State Institution for the Feeble Minded, what later became known as the Fairview Training Center first opened its doors in 1908 for the "training, care and custody of feeble-minded, idiotic and epileptic persons." The 672-acre institution received many of its original patients from the Oregon State Hospital, which was the setting of the 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Neat, starring Jack Nicholson.

At the time of Fairview's opening, the prevailing attitude of society toward people with mental disabilities was that they were better off living with their own kind. But it wasn't just the mentally disabled who were sequestered at Fairview. Orphans, promiscuous girls, and hitchhikers were also committed. The focus of the facility was to train patients to do physical labor despite their handicaps. Animal and vegetable farms were located on site, and patients grew the majority of the food they consumed. This seemed, for all intents and purposes, to be a well-intentioned, productive program.

In 1923 the facility embraced eugenics, the belief that individuals with certain undesirable qualities should not be allowed to breed, for fear of further qualities. This philosophy defined the behavior of many American hospitals during the twentieth century. It was also co-opted by the Nazis and used as the basis for murdering large segments of their population.

The Board of Eugenics encouraged the "sterilization of all feeble-minded, insane, epileptics, habitual criminals, moral degenerates, and sexual perverts who are a menace to society." Fairview pursued eugenics feverishly in the form of forced sterilizations that defined the institution for decades. In the 1920s the patient population soared from 389 patients to 950, and by 1929 more than 300 of those patients had been sterilized. By law, patients were supposed to sign waivers stating they willingly agreed to the procedures, but coercion seems far more likely. Sterilization was frequently used as a condition of release from the institution or a punishment for misbehavior.

The 1950s and 1960s were marked by intense overcrowding. By 1963 the population reached an all-time high of nearly three thousand, the largest population in the state. The overburdened staff simply could not keep tabs on all the inmates in their care, and consequently escapes from the institution did occur. One resident who escaped in 1956 stole a gun and shot a group of kids in Salem. In 1967 another escapee set several fires throughout surrounding communities. A 1969 fire that destroyed Byrd Cottage, an intensive-care unit housing mainly older bed-ridden men, killed three patients and seriously injured nine others. The physically disabled residents were trapped in the burning building because the doors to the wards were not wide enough to accommodate their rolling beds.

Straitjackets, handcuffs, leg shackles, and even cages were used to restrain patients. Cottage windows had prisonlike bars on them. Cafeterias doled out "institutional mush" with oversized spoons to expedite the process of feeding thousands of residents. Psychotropic drugs were employed liberally throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1984, the U.S. Health Care Financing Administration looked into how Fairview was operating and threatened to cut off all federal funding to the hospital. The state scrambled to throw money into fixing Fairview, but in 1985 the U.S. Justice Department got involved. They seemed the conditions at Fairview to be life threatening and, in fact, went so far as to act as coplaintiff in a suit against the facility along with an organization representing the disabled and the parents of some Fairview residents. Medicaid cut off all funding to Fairview through most of 1987. Against the state threw money at the problem, making physical improvements to the site as well as hiring new staff, including a required human rights representative.

The repercussions of this lawsuit would be felt at Fairview for many years, right up to its closing in 2000. After many attempts at fixing Fairview's facilities and operating procedures, it was decided that the facility was still committing outright civil rights violations that the hospital provided no sense of safety to its patients, who were in harm's way on a daily basis. The last patients left Fairview in mid-February of that year, followed shortly thereafter by all the employees. It still l stands closed.

What exactly was going on at Fairview that attracted such attention, finally forcing it to close? One of the glaring flaws at Fairview's sterilization program was that it continued for far too long. The last sterilization was performed at the facility in 1983. This well after the tide had turned against eugenics as a popular practice. In 1974, a federal judge ruled in favor of patients who had been administered sterilizations during a class action lawsuit, and in 1975 the New York Times Magazine published an exposé on the practice and its faults. Yet, for close to a full decade after that, Fairview was still sterilizing its patients. all told, nearly three thousand patients were sterilized during the six decades that Fairview administered the procedures.

Even more disturbing were the reasons the sterilizations were ordered. Simple misbehavior could lead to permanent sterilization. Researchers found that more than a hundred teenage girls were forced into hysterectomies for very minor transgressions.

For men, the cruelty was perhaps even more severe. While vasectomy was the common method of sterilization in most hospitals nationwide, Fairview leaned more toward castration as their preferred method of sterilizing male patients. In the early days of eugenics at Fairview, nonconsensual castrations were routinely required for homosexual men. These methods, as well as the incredibly flexible standards for what constituted who was marked for sterilization, are at the core of Fairview mistreatment.

By 2002, many former patients had organized themselves and were demanding an apology. In December of that year, Oregon governor John Kitzhaber obliged them. "Today, I am here to acknowledge a great wrong done to more than 2,600 Oregonians over a period of 60 years, forced sterilization in accordance with a doctrine called eugenics. . . ." he was quote as saying in the Inclusion Daily Express, a newspaper focused on protecting the disabled. "This time has come to apologize for misdeeds that resulted from widespread misconceptions, ignorance, and bigotry. It's the right thing to do, the just thing to do. . . . Our hearts are heavy for the pain you endured."

Oregon became the second state (after Virginia) to issue an apology for eugenics. Thirty-one other states promoted similar programs and have yet to issue formal apologies.

Many came forward around the time of Kitzhaber's apology to tell their stories of life at Fairview. One of them was Kevin Trowbridge, who told a reporter from the Statesman Journal about his experience his experience of being sterilized at Fairview after being tricked into signing papers authorizing the procedure. "They threaten me. I couldn't get out," he said. "Sometimes I still have nightmares about it."

Kenneth Newman and his wife, Shirley, were Fairview residents, both coerced into sterilizations. "It was terrible, living in a place like that, an institution," Shirley Newman told the Inclusion Daily Express. "I never did anything wrong."

The Ghosts of Fairview

Since 2000, Fairview has sat abandoned and crumbling. In that time, developers have debated exactly what to do with the site. By and large, the former hospital's only visitors have been a few brave souls whose curiosity has led them to explore its hulking, silent depths. Not surprisingly, many visitors to the site have reported back that there are a series of strange phenomenon at the old hospital.

Many have reported seeing ghostly figures wandering the fields that surround the abandoned buildings. This is not surprising-in the course of its history, many patients died as residents, sometimes because they lived out their natural lives here, and sometimes because of the botched medical procedures. Oftentimes, patients were abandoned at Fairview by their families, who did not want to raise disabled children, and no one claimed the bodies of these patients upon their deaths. They were buried as paupers in these same fields. Now, their tormented souls are said to still wander here.

Reports from within the building have yielded harrowing tales as well. There are numerous legends of walls within the building that bleed, as well as furniture that moves around the desolate halls on its own. Strange noises are heard with alarming frequency by visitors, at all times of the day and night. With all of the pain and suffering that took place within these buildings, it is not surprising to hear that ghosts linger here-maybe they are still seeking the attention and care that was not provided to them during their lives at the Fairview Training Center.

If there has ever been a place where psychic remnants of a troubled past would exist, it is the Fairview Training Center. During its operation, it was a place where people's physical and mental health was toyed with. Since its abandonment, it stands as a monument to thousands of untold horrors. No wonder it is regarded as one of the most haunted places in the entire state of Oregon.

[flowersfortheriot]

Just as the proletariat stakes no claim to any liberty for itself under the despotic regime of capital, and therefore doesn’t rally around the banner of either "formal" or "genuine" democracy, it will, on having established its own despotic regime proceed to suppress all the liberties of the social groups linked to capital, and this will be an integral part of its programme. For the bourgeoisie, struggles in the political arena take place not between classes, but as "debates" between free and equal individuals; the struggle is one of opinions rather than of physical and social forces divided by incurable contradictions. But whilst the bourgeoisie disguises its own dictatorship under the cloak of democracy, communists, who since the time of the Manifesto have "disdained to conceal their views and aims", proclaim openly that the revolutionary conquest of power, as necessary prelude to the social palingenesis, signifies at the same time the totalitarian rule of the ex-oppressed class, as embodied in its party, over the ex-dominant class.

Anti-totalitarianism is a rivendication of classes which are situated on the same social basis as the capitalist class (private appropriation of the means of production and the products themselves) but which are nevertheless invariably crushed by it. It is the ideology – common to the multifarious movements of "intellectuals" and "students" which infest the current political scene – of the urban and rural petty bourgeoisie and middle classes, a desperate attempt to cling to the historically condemned myths of small production, of the sovereignty of the individual and "direct democracy". It is therefore both bourgeois and anti-historical and thus doubly anti-proletarian. The ruin of the petty-bourgeoisie under the hammer blows of big capital is historically inevitable, and constitutes in a social sense – in the capitalist manner, brutal and drawn-out at the same time – a step towards the socialist revolution in that it brings about the one and only real historical contribution of capitalism: centralization of production, and socialization of productive activity.

For the proletariat, the return to less concentrated forms of production (even were it possible) could only mean turning aside from its historical aim of achieving a completely social production and distribution. It therefore recognises as its duty neither the defence of the petty-bourgeoisie against "big business" (both equally enemies of socialism) nor the adoption of pluralism and "polycentrism" in politics, which it has no reason to accept on either the economic or social level.

The slogan "struggle against the monopolies" in defence of small-scale production is therefore reactionary, as is the erroneous petty-bourgeois response to the degeneration of the Russian Revolution which is connected to it. For us, the cause of the degeneration was the failure to spread and extend the proletarian revolution, and the abandonment of communist internationalism, whilst for the petty bourgeoisie, the revolution was a failure from the start because it was anti-democratic, because it installed a proletarian dictatorship. All the equally reactionary movements of the middle-classes see the revolutionary process as consisting of the gradual conquests of little islands of peripheral "power" by proletarian organisms organised in the workplace (and condemned to it); this is the fantastical "direct democracy" (as in the Gramscist and Ordinovist theory of the factory councils). What these theories ignore is the central problem of the conquest of political power, the destruction of the capitalist State, and the need for the party as centralising organ of the working class. For others, all that is needed to realize "socialism" is a network of "self-managed" businesses, each with its own plan arrived at by "decisions from below" (Yugoslavian theory of self-management). Thus the petty-bourgeois theoreticians completely negate the possibility of the "social production regulated by social prevision" which Marx showed to be "the political economy of the labouring class", and which is made possible only by transcending the basic productive cells of the capitalist economy and the "blind rule" of the market in which they find the only, chaotic and unpredictable connective element.

Before and after the taking of power, in politics as in economy, the revolutionary proletariat does not and cannot make any concessions to anti-totalitarianism; a new version of that idealistic and utopian anti-authoritarianism denounced by Marx and Engels in their long polemic with the anarchists, and which Lenin, in State and Revolution, showed to converge with gradualist and democratic reformism. However, the small producers will receive a very different treatment from the socialist proletariat than that meted out to them under capitalism, which throughout its history has treated this class with the utmost ferocity. But towards small production itself, and its political, ideological and religious reflex, its action will be infinitely more decisive, rapid and, in short, totalitarian. The proletarian dictatorship will spare humanity the infinite amount of violence and misery which under capitalism constitutes its "daily bread". This it will be able to do precisely inasmuch as it doesn’t hesitate to use force, intimidation and, if necessary, the most decided repression against any social group, big or small, which seeks to obstruct the fulfillment of its historical mission.

To conclude: whoever combines the notion of socialism with any form of liberalism, democratism, factory councilism, localism, pluripartyism, or worse, anti-partyism places himself outside history, and off the road that leads to the reconstitution of the party and the International on a totalitarian communist basis.

[the-chomsky-hash]

B. In Nietzsche the organizing notion is Geburt [birth], which designates, for him, as for all Germans:

the fact of birth,

the breed or stock,

extraction, as it is capable of a certain quality

1. It is a notion

a. which is

neither philosophical

nor historical

but rather biological

b. which brings with it:

i. the semantic domain of genealogy (

noble

or not),

ii. and that of heredity (

good or bad,

diseased or healthy;

degeneration or improvement).

– Michel Foucault, Beginning, Origin, History, (Course given at the experimental university of Vincennes, 1969-1970: Annex 2), from Nietzsche: Cours, conférences et travaux, edited by Bernard E. Harcourt

[otter1962crystalball]

Fake me vs. Real Me / Old Me vs. New Me / and more...

June 26th, 2024

Happy 26th day of Pride, everyone. I’ve written quit a bit about my life experiences in the past 25 entries of my blog. The road from what I used to be to what I am now has been long and often confusing for me. There are a lot of contrasts that I would like to share.

For most of the first two decades of my life, I fought who I was by pretending and hiding. Feeling that I was different from a very early age taught me that hiding was the best idea. There were no clear signposts that told me which direction to go. I was shown a path that was set out by society: to grow up, go to school, get a job, marry a woman and have children. There was no help with my gender identity or my sexuality. Conversely, there were lots of negative messages about gay people. I took them on and accepted them all as a reason to hide and worry about who I was. I was going to go to hell. I was a degenerate. I was a criminal. I was something disgusting. I was sick. I would be making a choice. The list went on and on.

Religion of course played a big role. As I’ve written before the messages came from the bible and were not to be questioned. It didn’t matter to the young me that those who interpreted the bible to suit their own beliefs or moral standards. I didn’t see these beliefs as hypocritical. There were the ideas that sexual acts gay people performed were sick and dirty - even though everyone else performed them… Hell, I was considered a criminal up until June 27, 1969. That was when Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau signed it into law. In 1973 being gay was delisted as a mental disorder as well. Those two points in time didn’t help me growing up though. It didn’t stop my parents from commenting negatively on it or stop the bullies in school from teasing me, beating me and abusing me either. It was clear for most of my youth to see myself as a deviant, something sick and that I needed to hide myself from being discovered.

What did I do? I kept to myself as I went into adolescence. I spent a lot of my time lost in science fiction books, television and movies. Any friends I had were not in the know. That’s because I kept quiet, didn’t try to be overly extroverted and tried to make myself as small as possible. I knew I was attracted to other males and I hated it, but I wanted it as well. There were times when I let my personality show and I was quickly beaten down by some bully telling me to shut up or my parents telling me to not be so dramatic after telling them I had a low self esteem. The message was crystal clear: shut up, buck up and close up. The results? Low self esteem, depression, self-hatred, and seeking a way to forget in a bottle of beer or whiskey. I would get angry at the smallest issues and blame others for my anger. I would try to alienate myself - even from my friends. During my adolescence, I had no concept of socializing and dragged that into my adulthood.

I even pretended to have a girlfriend. We connected and she liked hanging out with me - until I didn’t show any signs of wanting sex. I can remember painfully hearing her have sex in the next room at a drinking party as I sat there drunk and wondering what was wrong with me. To this day, I’ve never had sexual relations with a woman.

So when I finally came out, I “accepted” myself. That only meant that I could have tons of sex with men, drink a lot and party. It didn’t mean that I allowed myself to be me, really love myself or accept myself as a good person. I’ve written about my adventures in my other blog entries and how I ended up HIV+.

HIV was just another reason to not accept myself - only to accept that I was no good, a screw up and that I had fulfilled all the things that I had learned in my childhood about going to hell, degenerate, sick, dirty and more. I lost a relationship from it because I couldn’t be a true partner to someone else. Hell, I couldn’t take care of myself for the longest time.

I’ve also written about the things that changed my point of view: becoming a group fitness instructor, getting my first teaching degree, getting on medications that turned my death sentence to a chronic illness. I taught school for thirty years but for a large part of that, I felt that I was a fake.

What pulled me out of all of this? How did I deal with all the negative images of myself? I just plowed through life; having dysfunctional relationships, being codependent and not really loving myself. In the past five years, I’ve done a lot of work on myself. I’ve learned about my inner critic and how he destroys my chances of being happy. I know my inner critic is there to protect me, but he had to know the new boundaries of what is safe and healthy versus supposedly unsafe and unhealthy situations. Friendships have gone from dysfunctional to supportive and caring. I worked through my belief that I was a fake in my work by really looking inward during my Master’s. I began to see the value in the things that I contribute to the world and above all, began to love myself and accept myself.

It’s been a long and hard haul but so worth it. I am now reaping the benefits of a great life. I have retired and can now do the things that I kept putting off such as travelling and writing. I am spending quality time with friends that matter to me and I matter to them. I don’t torture myself when I screw up anymore. I just look at it as a learning experience and let it go. To be honest, there are times when I back pedal but now I know that those times are not permanent. They are just small obstacles put in my path by the universe to keep me on my toes.

For Pride, I am celebrating being me - the imperfect, bumbling, loving, caring, naive, kind of sexy guy. I’m taking a few risks in being more social as well. I’m getting out of my own way! I’ve planned a trip to Bear Week in Provincetown in July and Palm Springs Pride in October. I’m looking at travelling to Costa Rica, Portugal, Japan and Australia (and more). I’m thinking of writing a book about my life as well (I have to tell my inner critic to shut up about that one…) and continue working on my science fiction trilogy.

Carpe diem, everyone.

[pagebypagereviews]

Biographies of LGBTQ+ Icons: Pioneers of Change and Voices of Pride The LGBTQ+ community has been graced with numerous icons who have fought tirelessly for equality, representation, and acceptance. These individuals have not only made significant contributions to the arts, politics, and social movements but have also paved the way for future generations to live more openly and authentically. This article delves into the biographies of some of the most influential LGBTQ+ icons, exploring their journeys, struggles, and triumphs. Through their stories, we gain insight into the broader narrative of LGBTQ+ history and the ongoing fight for rights and recognition. The Early Pioneers The fight for LGBTQ+ rights has deep roots, with early pioneers facing immense societal and legal challenges. These individuals laid the groundwork for the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, often at great personal risk. Marsha P. Johnson - A prominent figure in the Stonewall uprising of 1969, Johnson was a black transgender woman who dedicated her life to advocating for LGBTQ+ rights, particularly for transgender people. Despite facing discrimination and violence, she remained a tireless activist until her untimely death in 1992. Harvey Milk - Known as one of the first openly gay elected officials in the United States, Milk served on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in the late 1970s. His assassination in 1978 became a rallying point for the gay rights movement, highlighting the dangers LGBTQ+ individuals faced in public life. Voices of the Arts The arts have long been a refuge and a platform for LGBTQ+ expression. Many iconic artists have used their work to explore themes of identity, love, and struggle, bringing visibility to the community and challenging societal norms. Frida Kahlo - The Mexican painter, known for her surreal and deeply personal works, explored themes of identity, post-colonialism, gender, class, and race in Mexican society. Kahlo's bisexuality and non-conventional gender presentation have made her an LGBTQ+ icon. James Baldwin - An American novelist, playwright, and activist, Baldwin's works such as "Giovanni's Room" and "Another Country" explore the complexities of sexual and racial identity. His eloquent advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights and racial equality made him a key figure in both movements. Modern Activists and Influencers In recent years, the visibility of LGBTQ+ individuals has increased significantly, thanks in part to activists and influencers who use their platforms to advocate for equality and educate the public. Laverne Cox - An actress and transgender advocate, Cox rose to fame with her role in "Orange Is the New Black." She has since become a vocal advocate for transgender rights and representation in the media. Ellen DeGeneres - One of the first major television personalities to come out as gay, DeGeneres has used her platform to promote LGBTQ+ rights and visibility. Her coming out on her sitcom "Ellen" in 1997 was a landmark moment in television history. Challenges and Triumphs The biographies of LGBTQ+ icons are filled with both challenges and triumphs. Discrimination, violence, and legal battles have been common themes in their lives. However, their resilience and determination have led to significant progress in the fight for equality. Legal Victories - Many LGBTQ+ icons have been involved in landmark legal cases that have advanced LGBTQ+ rights. For example, Edie Windsor's Supreme Court case led to the striking down of the Defense of Marriage Act in 2013, a major victory for same-sex marriage rights in the United States. Social Acceptance - Through their visibility and advocacy, LGBTQ+ icons have played a crucial role in shifting public opinion towards greater acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community. This has been reflected in changing attitudes and increased support for LGBTQ+ rights over the years. Conclusion: The Legacy of LGBTQ+ Icons The biographies of LGBTQ+ icons are not just personal stories; they are chapters in the larger narrative of the struggle for equality and acceptance.

These individuals, through their courage and activism, have left an indelible mark on history. They have opened doors, challenged stereotypes, and paved the way for future generations to live more freely. As we continue to fight for LGBTQ+ rights and representation, the stories of these icons serve as both inspiration and a reminder of the work that still needs to be done. Their legacies remind us that change is possible, that love is worth fighting for, and that every individual has the power to make a difference. In celebrating the lives and achievements of LGBTQ+ icons, we not only honor their memory but also reinforce our commitment to the ongoing struggle for equality. Their stories teach us the importance of resilience, the power of visibility, and the impact of speaking out against injustice. As we move forward, let us carry their torch with pride, continuing the fight for a world where everyone can live authentically and without fear.

[tina-aumont]

Tina Aumont as Circe and Don Backy as Encolpio in Gian Luigi Polidoro’s “Satyricon” aka “The Degenerates” (1969)

Ebay

[cleoenfaserum]

Norman Alfred William Lindsay (22 February 1879 – 21 November 1969) was an Australian artist, etcher, sculptor, writer, art critic, novelist, cartoonist and amateur boxer.[3] One of the most prolific and popular Australian artists of his generation, Lindsay attracted both acclaim and controversy for his works, many of which infused the Australian landscape with erotic pagan elements and were deemed by his critics to be "anti-Christian, anti-social and degenerate".[4] A vocal nationalist, he became a regular artist for The Bulletin at the height of its cultural influence, and advanced staunchly anti-modernist views as a leading writer on Australian art. When friend and literary critic Bertram Stevens argued that children like to read about fairies rather than food, Lindsay wrote and illustrated The Magic Pudding (1918), now considered a classic work of Australian children's literature.

Apart from his creative output, Lindsay was known for his larrikin attitudes and personal libertine philosophy, as well as his battles with what he termed "wowserism". One such battle is portrayed in the 1994 film Sirens, starring Sam Neill and filmed on location at Lindsay's home in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. It is now known as the Norman Lindsay Gallery and Museum and is maintained by the National Trust of Australia. Norman Lindsay - Wikipedia

Go to his sketches,

'The C Sharp Minor Quartet' by Norman Lindsay, 1927

[lonestarlife]

Remembering Anne Celeste Heche ( May 25, 1969 – August 11, 2022) on her 55th birth anniversary. She was an American actress, known for her roles across a variety of genres in film, television, and theater. She was the recipient of Daytime Emmy, National Board of Review, and GLAAD Media Awards, in addition to nominations for a Tony Award and a Primetime Emmy.

Heche began her professional acting career on the NBC soap opera Another World (1987–1991), earning a Daytime Emmy Award for her portrayal of twins Vicky Hudson and Marley Love. She made her film debut in 1993 with a small role in The Adventures of Huck Finn. Heche's profile rose in 1997 with appearances in Donnie Brasco, Volcano, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Wag the Dog. In 1998, she had starring roles in the romantic adventure Six Days, Seven Nights and the drama-thriller Return to Paradise.

From 1999 to 2001, Heche focused on directing, most notably a segment of the HBO television film If These Walls Could Talk 2 (2000). She was nominated for a Tony Award for her starring role in the 2004 Broadway revival of Twentieth Century, as well as a Primetime Emmy Award that same year for her appearance in the television film Gracie's Choice. Other film appearances included Prozac Nation (2001), John Q. (2002), Birth (2004), Spread (2009), Cedar Rapids (2011), Catfight (2016), and My Friend Dahmer (2017). Heche also starred on a number of television series, such as The WB's Everwood (2004–2005), ABC's Men in Trees (2006–2008), and NBC's The Brave (2017–2018). In 2020, she appeared as a contestant on the 29th season of Dancing with the Stars, finishing in 13th place.

Events in Heche's personal life often upstaged her acting career. She was in a high-profile relationship with comedian Ellen DeGeneres between 1997 and 2000, with the pair being described by The Advocate as "the first gay supercouple". Immediately following her split from DeGeneres, she suffered a highly publicized psychotic break.

On August 5, 2022, Heche was critically injured in a high-speed car crash. She died at a Los Angeles hospital on August 11, 2022, at the age of 53

[saintmeghanmarkle]

🎓𝑨𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, Harry and Meghan were *𝑵𝑶𝑻* amongst the lineup of celebrity commencement speakers this year 🎓

Dear Sinners,

Another graduation season has come and gone 🎓 And once again, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were missing from the lineup of notable 2024 commencement speakers. If I remember correctly, the only so-called "graduation speech" Meghan has given was this bizarre unsolicited "graduation speech" she released to the media in 2020 👀

Here's a list of some of H&M's "famous friends" who have given commencement speeches over the years. These are individuals who have participated in ARO, Archetypes, and/or 40x40:

📌ARO:

John Legend (singer, songwriter, producer, EGOT winner) - Loyola Marymount University, 2024. John has given many commencement speeches over the years and is also the recipient of three (3) honorary doctorate degrees as well. His wife and ARO jam recipient, Chrissy Teigen however, has not given any commencement speeches nor received any honorary degrees

Mindy Kaling (actress & comedian) - Dartmouth University, 2018

Tracee Ellis Ross (actress, daughter of Diana Ross) - Spelman College, 2023

source 1 // source 2

📌Archetypes podcast guests:

Mindy Kaling (actress & comedian) - Dartmouth University, 2018

Mellody Hobson (President and co-CEO of $14.9B Ariel Investments, Chairwoman of Starbucks Corporation, wife of George Lucas) - University of Southern California, 2015

Serena Williams 🏆- Graduating Class of 2020

Trevor Noah (S. African comedian) - Princeton University, 2021

source

📌 40x40 Participants:

Deepak Chopra (author and alternative medicine advocate) - University of Southern California, 2017

Hillary Clinton (politician, wife of former US President Bill Clinton) - At age 21, Hillary famous delivered her Wellesley 1969 commencement speech. She returned to her alma mater in 2017 to deliver another commencement speech

Katie Couric (journalist) - UMass Medical School, 2017 most recently. Katie has given many commencement speeches over the years

Kerry Washington (actress) - George Washington University, 2013. Kerry also received an honorary Doctorate degree

source 1 // source 2 // source 3

📌 Friends:

Ellen DeGeneres - Tulane University, 2009

Gayle King - University of Maryland, 2023

Gloria Steinem - M's bestie "Glo" has given many commencement speeches over the decades. Perhaps her most famous was at Tufts University, 1987

Oprah Winfrey - Oprah has given dozens of commencement speeches and has also received numerous honorary degrees over the decades

📌 Bonus:

Actress Kathryn Hahn - As an interesting comparison to Meghan: Kathryn is an respected and accomplished actress, you may recognize her from Parks & Recreation, WandaVision, and Spiderman: Into The Spiderverse (IMDb). TIL that like Meghan, Kathryn is a Northwestern alumni. This year, Kathryn gave the commencement speech at Northwestern University. Northwestern also gave Kathryn, along with three other accomplished alumni [*not* named Meghan Markle], honorary Doctor of Arts degrees

👉 Why hasn't Northwestern invited Meghan Markle to give a commencement speech?

👉 Why hasn't Northwestern given Meghan Markle an honorary degree?

📌 Notes:

In 2020, H&M signed with the esteemed NY-based Harry Walker Agency. Here is Meghan, The Duchess of Sussex's profile page. (I could not find a profile page for Harry.) This is the same high powered agency that also represents the Clintons, the Obamas, John Legend, and many others for speaking engagements. At the time, it was widely reported that H&M could charge up to $1M per speech!

🤑 Where did all of H&M's dream$ of making million$ of dollar$ by giving word $alad $peeche$ go? 🤑

post link

author: SeptiemeSens

submitted: July 03, 2024 at 02:36PM via SaintMeghanMarkle on Reddit

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